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$1.12 billion capital-projects bill approved

Beacon Hill Roll Call records the votes of local representatives on three roll calls and local senators on five roll calls from the week of Aug. 4-8.

$1.12 billion capital projects (H 4362): House 147-3, Senate 40-0, approved and Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law a $1.31 billion capital spending bill that would allow the state to borrow funds for various projects including $378 million for general state facility improvements; $312.5 million for Health and Human Services state facility projects; $25.5 million for accessibility improvements at state facilities; $50 million for the Massachusetts Cultural Fund; $60 million for state police cruisers; $151 million for library projects; $15.6 million for cities and towns to renovate police and fire stations; and $20 million each for renovation and repairs to the Senate and House chambers.

Economic development (H 4377): House 144-9, Senate 40-0, approved and sent to Gov.

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Patrick an economic-development package that includes a sales-tax holiday allowing consumers to buy most products that cost under $2,500 on Saturday, Aug. 16, and Sunday, Aug. 17, without paying the state's 6.25 percent sales tax.

Other provisions include $2.5 million for loan guarantees to small businesses; $10 million for brownfields redevelopment; $2 million in the Talent Pipeline initiative that encourages students and young innovators to get a head-start on their futures by matching stipends for interns at innovation start-ups; $1.5 million for MassVentures to fund early-stage, high-growth startups in Massachusetts as they move from concept to commercialization; creation of a program to increase consumer demand and preference for local seafood products; and requiring a study of the possibility of Massachusetts hosting a major NASCAR event.

$1.74 billion environmental bond bill (H 4375): House 151-2, Senate 39-0, approved and sent to the governor a $1.9 billion environmental bond package allowing the state to borrow funds to finance various environmental projects, including: $75.7 million water- and air-quality protection; $48.8 million for the design, construction and repair or removal of municipally owned dams and $20 million for state-owned dams; $30 million for the dredging of coastal public harbors; $20 million for the acquisition of open space, recreation and conservation land; $255.4 million for the construction and improvement of reservations, forests, parks, harbor islands and other recreational facilities; and $312 million to improve the energy-efficiency of state-owned facilities.

The measure includes dozens of earmarks costing hundreds of millions of dollars proposed by individual representatives and designed to fund projects in their districts. The projects are actually more of a "wish list"; the Patrick administration is required to adhere to the state's annual bond borrowing cap and ultimately decides which projects are affordable and actually get funded.

Protecting animal welfare and safety (PAWS) (S 2345): Senate 40-0, approved a bill increasing the prison time and fines for committing animal abuse. The measure increases the fine for a first offense from a maximum of $2,500 to a maximum of $10,000 while raising the maximum prison sentence for a first offense from five years to seven years. Under current law, the fines and prison sentences for subsequent offenses are the same as first offenses. The bill increases the fines and prison time for second offenses to a maximum of ten years and a fine of $20,000.

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